In a crossover that absolutely nobody would have predicted, the latest promo for Venom: The Last Dance sees Tom Hardy locking up a rear-naked choke against top MMA fighter Sean O’Malley. The promo is an unusual move for the minds behind the superhero film, but it’s one that’s clearly worked well. Dana White shared it to his social media accounts immediately before O’Malley put his bantamweight title on the line at UFC 306, so naturally it attracted a ton of attention. The crossover does actually make some sense too, as Hardy is pretty well-known for being an avid martial artist himself.
Hardy is actually currently a purple belt in BJJ and he competes in the sport pretty regularly when he’s not as busy with his career. Competing in the masters division on the local circuit in the UK, Hardy has actually racked up quite a few gold medals over the last few years. He’s clearly fallen in love with the sport and has spent a huge amount of time on the mats already, including some of it with some of the very best competitors in the world. Hardy also famously played an MMA fighter in The Warrior, so he actually has quite a lot of experience compared to other celebrities in BJJ.
The short clip sees Hardy in character as Eddie Brock from the Venom series, walking into White’s office in order to try and convince him to let him fight in the UFC as he needs money. White sends him on his way and immediately hears a commotion outside, leaving his office to see Hardy on O’Malley’s back with a rear-naked choke locked in. White then throws some money at Hardy to get him to leave, and he the clip ends with him escaping down the hallway. It was a nice way to bring the film to the attention of fight fans and with it’s success on social media, it’s probably done some good for O’Malley’s career as well.
Dana White released the brand new promo for Venom: The Last Dance where Tom Hardy chokes Sean O’Malley in front of him in a recent post to his official X account:
#Venom: The Last Dance in theaters ONLY October 25th @SugaSeanMMA pic.twitter.com/rFTwPogf6u
— danawhite (@danawhite) September 14, 2024